Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

The Bamboozle Roadshow, with headliners Good Charlotte, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low and Hanson, is headed to Texas this weekend. The show will stop at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington on Saturday, May 29, and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in San Antonio on Sunday, May 30.

The music will last all day on two stages and includes many more acts. Tickets are $15 plus park admission. Discounted admission is available if you buy in advance online, so check out the links to the two park’s Web sites above and get them before you get to the gate.

While you are at the Bamboozle Roadshow, be sure to look for this tent:

That’s the Coke “Swelter Stopper” tent, and it’s going to be a cool respite from the Memorial Day weekend heat at the theme parks.

Inside, you can chill out with ice-cold Coca-Cola and a DJ.

Now, that DJ is key, because throughout the day, concertgoers can win Bamboozle Roadshow meet-and-greet passes by answering random questions the DJ asks. The questions will be based on the info provided by Coca-Cola below, so study it now so that you can win:

Many of the factors that make a summer concert so awesome – the warm weather, bright sun and dancing – can take a lot out of someone. Enter “Swelter Stopper” – one of Coke’s secret ingredients that, when combined with the others, make Coke the uplifting refreshment that it is.

To help concert goers make it from the opening to closing acts, Coke will have the “Swelter Stopper” experience stocked with ice-cold Coca-Cola.  Get refreshed with blasts of frosty air, snow falling, and a delicious Coke from the perfect serve sampling bar, along with uplifting interactive games, a DJ and a photo station.  Once their “Swelter Stopper” experience ends, they’ll be ready for crowd surfing at the main stage.

To give you a better idea about what it’s like inside, you can check out some of the images taken from previous events: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coca-cola/

For more details about Coca-Cola’s Secret Ingredient Formula, please go here: www.MyCoke.com

And TODAY, you can win tickets to the Bamboozle Roadshow right here! Coca-Cola is giving away a pair of tickets to the concert at either Six Flags Over Texas (on Saturday) or Six Flags Fiesta Texas (on Sunday) – your choice!

To enter, just leave a comment below, telling me which act you most want to see at the Bamboozle Roadshow. But hurry! Entries will close at 11:59 p.m. Eastern tonight!

Because the concert is happening this weekend, I will be notifying the winner overnight tonight, and you will have to get back to me by noon Eastern on Friday, May 28 to win.

Disclosure notice: This prize was provided by The Coca-Cola Company.  The Coca-Cola Company is not a sponsor, administrator or connected in any other way with this giveaway.

UPDATE: We have a winner! Comment No. 8 was the winning number, according to Random.org. So, Stephanie Shaffer will be going to see Good Charlotte and all the other bands this weekend!

We checked out the last weekend of the EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival on Saturday. The Flower Power concert with Chubby Checker and the Wildcats was definitely a highlight this year. You would think he is still a teenager with the way he dances and jumps around on the stage.

Chubby’s show had lots of audience participation, as he made his way through the crowd, dancing with the audience and inviting folks to join him on stage. The Theme Park Dad and Theme Park Kid got to do the twist with him. How many people can say that?! They were both thrilled.

It’s time to say goodbye to the Flower Power concerts, topiaries and — our family favorite — the playgrounds of the Flower and Garden Festival. At least we have the Sounds Like Summer concerts to look forward to.

Star Wars fans are going to have to say goodbye soon, too, to the original Star Tours storyline at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disneyland. Over at Gadling, I wrote about the closing dates and a special party Walt Disney World is throwing:

• Disney announces closing date for Star Wars rides at Disneyland, Walt Disney World

Also at Gadling.com this week:

• Disney’s new Animation-themed resort reflects success of two recent hotel trends
• Grand Ole Opry’s famed circle survives Nashville flooding
• A taste of Cleveland: Shopping the historic West Side Market
• Panama City Beach, Florida, puts a guarantee on fun, despite oil spill
• Cedar Point delays opening of new water coaster Shoot the Rapids
• Luxe savings in Florida: New summer discount packages at One Ocean Resort
• Legoland California Water Park prepares for May 28 opening
• Holiday World “auctions” staff members for charity
• Dream bachelor party trip: Watch Major League Baseball from the FanCave

Have you heard about the San Antonio Vacation Experience giveaways? There are 12 great Texas summer vacations up for grabs this week and next. Head over to Traveling Mamas to enter to win a 2-night stay at San Antonio’s awesome Riverwalk and passes to the San Antonio Botanical Garden, Six Flags Fiesta Texas and several other attractions there.

And be sure to come back here next week, when I will be giving away my own San Antonio vacation package.

After you’ve entered the San Antonio giveaways, check out my post about Traveling Mamas this week. I’m all for fun spa treatments for kids, but I got a press release from a spa that is trying to convince parents that their kids need massage therapy. So, I did a little venting:

• And now, a segment we like to call ‘Really? with ThemeParkMom’

This week is the International Pow Wow in Orlando. It’s a huge convention where International buyers of travel, like travel agents and the folks who arrange guided tours and such, converge on Orlando to learn more about U.S. destinations and, hopefully, make plans to bring folks from around the globe to the United States. I will be there to cover the action and learn as much as I can to share with you.

Spring is in the air in Central Florida, and that means the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival is in full swing. While this event is a delight for gardeners, flower lovers and just about anyone who likes to be outside, it is also one of the most fun times of the year to bring kids to EPCOT.

Here are my top 5 tips for taking kids to the festival:

1. Don’t miss the topiaries. There are two dozen of them sprinkled around EPCOT, and while your kids may not be patient enough for a walking tour of all of them, be sure to pick out a few favorite characters and go take a look. Our favorites this year are the “American Gothic” Mickey and Minnie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Bambi and friends. Older kids can take a close look and try to figure out how EPCOT’s horticulturists make them happen.

2. Playgrounds, playgrounds, playgrounds. Part of the magic of the Flower and Garden Festival are the children’s playsets sprinkled around the park for kids. There’s one on the walkway between the Canada Pavilion and Future World (behind the Fantasia topiaries), on in the Living Green area near the France Pavilion and one near the Fairy Garden in Future World. Truth be told, I think the EPCOT experience for kids would be improved if one or more of these play areas became a permanent fixture.

3. Speaking of the Fairy Garden, be sure to see the Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden! I love, love, loved the colorful, tiny Tink and friends topiaries here. And there’s an interactive art project – kids can pick up a sheet and move around the garden doing rubbings to complete a picture. Also in this area is the butterfly house, where you can see butterflies flutter by, and Princess Tiana’s Wedding Showcase, which is a great area for pictures.

4. By the way, take pictures with your kids at the EPCOT International Flower and Garden Festival. Ask them to pose like the characters they are standing in front of or just be silly. And it’s never too early to be thinking about that Christmas card photo. So much for Santa, Christmas sweaters and snow — when it’s cold outside at Christmas, you can send everyone a picture of the Florida sunshine. I met a mom with six kids at EPCOT last week, she was lining them all up in front of Mrs. Potts and the Beauty and the Beast topiaries. The six little stair-steps were all doing their best “I’m a little teapot” pose, and the mom told me that was definitely going to be her Christmas card picture this year.

5. Take time to sing and dance. Don’t forget to take your kids to one of the Flower Power concerts held on weekend evenings during the festival. Sure, they may not know who David Cassidy is, but that doesn’t mean they won’t enjoy the music. Do an Internet search and stream a Partridge Family episode or a little “I Think I Love You” audio to get your kids familiar with who they will be watching.

The EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival continues at Walt Disney World through May 16.

If you want to see more of what’s in store, check out this story and photo gallery.

Here’s a theme park concert to respect: Aretha Franklin is singing this weekend at Universal Studios Orlando.

The Queen of Soul performs March 13 as part of Universal Orlando’s Mardi Gras celebration, which runs Saturdays through April 17. Mardi Gras means Cajun cuisine, authentic New Orleans music, concerts, and, of course, a parade with plenty of bead throwing.

The Mardi Gras parade starts at 8 p.m. Saturday night, and Aretha’s concert will begin at 8:30 p.m.

The concert lineup for the rest of the Mardi Gras season includes:

• March 20: Miranda Lambert
• March 27: 3 Doors Down
• April 3: Beach Boys
• April 9: Sheryl Crow
• April 10: Flo Rida
• April 17: Chicago

Universal is running a special hotel package in conjunction with Mardi Gras this spring: Book 3 nights and get 2 more free. You can still book this package online through the end of March.